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THE EDUCATION OF 
CHILDREN 



THE EDUCATION 
OF CHILDREN 

FROM THE STANDPOINT 
OF THEOSOPHY 

BY 

RUDOLF STEINER 

PH. D. (vienna) 

AUTHORIZED TRANSLATION 
FROM THE SECOND GERMAN EDITION 




AMERICAN EDITION 



THE RAJPUT PRESS, 




CHICAGO. 
1911 






COPYRIGHT1911, BY WELLER VAN HOOK, IN THE 
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 



IN VIEW OF THE MANY UNAUTHORIZED TRANS- 
LATIONS OF DR. RUDOLF STEINER'S WORKS, THE 
PUBLISHER BEGS TO GIVE NOTICE THAT ALL 
AUTHORISED EDITIONS, ISSUED UNDER THE 
EDITORSHIP OF MR. MAX GYSI, BEAR THE SYM- 
BOL OVERLEAF (CROSS IN PENTAGRAM). 



MAX GYSI, Editor, 

"Adyar," Park Drive, 

Hampstead, London, N. W. 



3CI.A295151 



THE 
EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

FROM THE STANDPOINT OF THEOSOPHY 
(translated by W. B.) 

Present day life calls into ques- ^ 
tion many things which man has 
inherited from his ancestors 
hence the numberless questions 
of the day, as for example: the 
Social Problem, the Woman's 
Movement, Education and School 
Questions, Law Reform, Hygiene, 
Sanitation, and so forth. We try 
to grapple with these questions in 
manifold ways. The number of 
those who bring forward this or 
that remedy in order to solve this 
or that question, or at least to con- 
tribute something towards its so- 
lution, is immeasurably great, and 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

every possible shade of opinion is 
manifested in these endeavors; 
radicalism, carrying itself with a 
revolutionary air; the moderate 
view, full of respect for existing 
things and desirous of fashioning 
out of them something new; or 
conservatism, up in arms, when- 
ever old institutions and tra- 
ditions are tampered with; and 
besides these main attitudes, there 
are all sorts of intermediary points 
of view. 

He who is able to probe deeply 
into life cannot help feeling one 
thing with regard to these phe- 
nomena — that the claims which are 
placed before men in our time are 
met repeatedly by inadequate 
means. Many would like to re- 
form life, without really knowing 
it from its foundations. He who 
would put forth a proposition as 

e 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

to life in the future, must not con- 
tent himself with merely learning 
to know life superficially. He 
must probe it to its depths. 

Life is like a plant that contains 
not only that which is visible to 
the eye, but also a future condition 
concealed within its secret depths. 
He who has before him a plant 
that is just in leaf, is well aware 
that later on blossoms and fruit 
will be added to the leaf-bearing 
stem. The germs of these blossoms 
and fruit are already concealed 
within the plant. But it is im- 
posible for one who merely re- 
gards it in its present condition to 
say how these organs will ultimate- 
ly appear. Only he who is ac- 
quainted with the nature of the 
plant can do so. 

Human life also contains within 
itself the germs for its future. 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

But to be able to say anything 
about this future one must pene- 
trate into the hidden nature of 
man, and this, the present age, 
has no real inclination to do. It 
busies itself with the surface and 
thinks itself treading on unsafe 
ground should it advance into that 
which is hidden from external ob- 
servation. With the plant it is 
true the matter is considerably 
simpler. We know that its like 
has often and often brought forth 
flowers and fruit. Human life 
exists but once and the flowers 
which it is to bring forth in the 
future were not previously there. 
None the less they exist in human 
life in embryo, just as much as the 
flowers of the plant which at pres- 
ent is only just bearing leaves. 

And it is possible to say some- 
thing about this future, when one 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

penetrates beneath the surface, 
into the heart of human nature. 
The different reformatory ideas of 
the present can only become really 
fruitful and practical, when they 
are the result of this . deep re- 
search into human life. 

Theosophy is suited by its very 
nature to present a practical phi- 
losophy, comprehending the whole 
sphere of human life. Whether or 
not Theosophy, or that which in 
our time so often passes for it, is 
justified in putting forth such a 
claim, is not the point. The point 
concerns rather the nature of The- 
osophy and what, by means of this 
nature, it is able to accomplish. 
It ought not to be a colorless 
theory to satisfy the mere curi- 
osity of knowledge, nor yet a 
medium for those men who, out of 
selfishness, would like to win for 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

themselves a Mgtier grade of evo- 
lution. It can contribute some- 
thing to the most important prob- 
lems of present day Humanity, in 
the development of its well-being. 

Of course if it acknowledges a 
mission of this kind it must expect 
to meet with all manner of oppo- 
sition and doubt. Eadicals, Mod- 
erates and Conservatives of all 
departments in life will surely 
raise such doubts against it. For 
at first it will be unable to please 
any one party, because its doc- 
trines reach far beyond all party 
motives. 

And these doctrines have their 
roots wholly and solely in the true 
understanding of life. Only he 
who understands life will be able 
to take his lessons from life itself. 
He will draw up no capricious 
schemes, for he knows that no 

10 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

other fundamental laws of life will 
prevail in the future than such as 
prevail in the present. Theosophy 
will therefore of necessity have re- 
spect for the existing state of 
things. Even, should it still find 
in what is existent, very much that 
might be improved, yet it will not 
fail to perceive in the present the 
germs of the future. But it knows, 
too, that for all things nascent 
there is a growth and a develop- 
ment. Therefore the germs for a 
transformation and for a future 
growth will appear to Theosophy 
in the existing state of things. It 
invents no schemes, it only calls 
them forth from what already 
exists. But that which is so called 
forth becomes in a certain sense 
itself a scheme, for it contains 
within itself the nature of evolu- 
tion. 



11 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

For this very reason the theo- 
sophical way of delving into the 
nature of man mnst yield the most 
fruitful and practical means for 
the solution of the vitally impor- 
tant questions of the present time. 

It is my purpose to apply this 
to one such question, namely that 
of education. We do not intend to 
advance any claims or pronounce 
a learned dissertation, but to por- 
tray simply the child nature. From 
a study of the nature of the grow- 
ing man, the educational stand- 
point here suggested will develop 
quite naturally. But to proceed 
rightly with such a study it is 
necessary to contemplate the hid- 
den nature of man in general. 

That which is cognised by the 
physical perception, that which the 
materialistic view of life considers 
to be the only important element 

12 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

in the nature of man, namely, his 
physical body, forms, according to 
spiritual research, only a part, a 
principle of human nature. This 
physical body is subject to the 
same laws of physical life, is com- 
posed of the same matter and 
forces, as all the rest of the so- 
called lifeless world. Theosophy, 
therefore, maintains that man pos- 
sesses this physical aspect in com- 
mon with the whole of the mineral 
kingdom. And it considers as 
physical body that part only in 
man which is able to mix, unite, to 
build up and to dissolve the very 
same materials, and after identical 
laws, as are also at work in the 
mineral world. 

Now besides this physical body, 
Theosophy recognizes a second ele- 
ment in the constitution of man — 
namely a vital or etheric body. 

13 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

And that there may be no cause 
for the physicist to reject the term 
etheric body we would point out 
that etheric is here used in a 
different sense from the hypo- 
thetical ether of physics, and it 
must be taken to mean here that 
which is about to be described. 

It has been considered for some 
time past a most unscientific pro- 
ceeding to speak of an ** etheric 
body'' of this kind. At the end of 
the eighteenth and in the first half 
of the nineteenth century, it is 
true, it was not considered *^ un- 
scientific.'' It was then said that 
matter and force operating in a 
mineral could not of their own 
power form themselves into a liv- 
ing being. For this there must be 
an especial indwelling ^^force," 
which was termed ^* vital force." 
It was represented indeed that 

14 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

sucli a force operates in plants, in 
animals, and in human bodies, and 
produces the phenomena of life 
just as magnetic force in the mag- 
net causes attraction. In the suc- 
ceeding period of materialism this 
theory had been abandoned. It 
was then said that a living being 
builds itself up in the same way 
as a so-called lifeless being; no 
other forces prevail in an organ- 
ism than those which are in the 
mineral — they only operate in a 
more complicated manner; they 
build up a more complex struc- 
ture. At the present time, only 
the most obstinate materialists 
cling to this denial of the '^ vital 
force.'' A number of natural 
philosophers have taught that one 
must nevertheless admit some such 
thing as a vital force of a life- 
principle. 

16 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

Thus the new science ap- 
proaches in a certain sense the 
teaching of Theosophy in regard 
to the vital body. Nevertheless 
there is a considerable difference 
between the two. Science today, 
by means of intellectual observa- 
tions founded on the facts of or- 
dinary perception, has accepted 
the idea of a kind of vital force. 
But this is not the method of a 
truly spiritual research, such as 
Theosophy aims at, and from the 
results of which proceed the theo- 
sophical teachings. It cannot be 
pointed out too often, how The- 
osophy on this point differs from 
the current science of the day. 
The latter considers the experi- 
ence of the senses to be the basis 
of all knowledge, and whatever is 
not built upon this basis it treats 
as unknowable. From the impres- 

16 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

sions of the senses it draws de- 
ductions and conclusions. But 
anything that goes further it puts 
aside, as being beyond the limits 
of human knowledge. To The- 
osophy such a prospect resembles 
the view of a blind man who only 
takes into consideration those 
things that he can touch, and 
what he may infer from the 
touched object by reasoning, but 
who sets aside the statements of 
those who can see as being be- 
yond the faculty of human percep- 
tion. For Theosophy shows that 
man is capable of evolution, that 
through the developing of new 
organs he may conquer for him- 
self new worlds. Around the 
blind man there is color and light, 
but he cannot perceive them, be- 
cause he does not possess the re- 
quisite organs. Around man, so 

17 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

Theosophy teaches, there are many 
worlds, and he can observe them, 
if only he develops the organs 
necessary for the purpose. 

Even as the blind man looks 
upon a new world as soon as he 
has undergone a successful opera- 
tion, so can man, through the de- 
veloping of higher organs, per- 
ceive worlds quite different from 
those which he observed at first 
with his ordinary senses. Now 
whether or not it is possible to 
operate on one who is bodily blind 
depends on the conditions of the 
organs; but those higher organs 
by which one may penetrate into 
the upper worlds, exist in embryo 
in every human being. Anyone 
can develop them, who has the 
patience, endurance and energy to 
make use of those methods which 
are described in my two books en- 



18 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

titled ^^The Way of Initiation'^ 
and *^ Initiation and Its Eesults.*'* 
Theosopliy does not speak of limi- 
tations to man's knowledge through 
his organism; bnt says, on the 
contrary, that he is surrounded by 
worlds for which he has the 
organs of perception. It indi- 
cates the means by which to ex- 
tend the temporary limits. It also 
occupies itself with the investiga- 
tion of the vital, or etheric body, 
and to what in the following may 
be called the yet higher principles 
of human nature. It admits that 
only the physical body can be ac- 
cessible to the investigation of the 
bodily senses, and that from this 
standpoint one can at most only 



* "The Way of Initiation," or How to 
Attain Knowledge of the Higher Worlds," 
by Rudolph Steiner, Ph.D., with a Fore- 
word by Annie Besant, and some bio- 



10 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

chance on something higher by a 
train of reasoning. But it gives 
information as to how one can 
open up for oneself a world in 
which these higher principles of 
human nature appear before the 
observer, just as the colors and 
light of objects appear before the 
blind-born person after his opera- 
tion. For those who have de- 
veloped the higher organs of percep- 
tion, the etheric or vital body is an 
object of actual observation, and 
not a theory resulting from intel- 
lectual activity or a train of reason- 
ing. 

Man has this etheric, or vital 
body, in common with the plants 
and animals. It causes the mat- 



graphical Notes of the author by Edouard 
Schure. Second edition, 237 pages, cloth, 
crown 8vo, 3/10 post free. 

"Initiation and its Results." A sequel 



20 



EDUCATION OP CHILDREN 

ter and forces of the physical body 
to form themselves into the mani- 
festations of growth, of reproduc- 
tion, of the internal motions of the 
fluids, etc. It is also the builder 
and sculptor of the physical body, 
its inhabitant and its architect. 
The physical body can therefore 
also be called an image or expres- 
sion of this vital body. Both are 
approximately the same in man as 
regards form and size, yet they 
are by no means quite alike. But 
the ether ic body in animals and 
still more in plants, differs con- 
siderably from the physical body 
with regard to its shape and di- 
mension. 

The third principle of the human 



to "The Way of Initiation." Second edition. 
3/9 post free. To be obtained from the 
Theosophical Publishing Society, 161 New 
Bond Street, London, W. 



21 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

being is the so-called body of feel- 
ing, or astral body. It is the 
vehicle of pain and pleasure, of 
impulse, desire, passion, and so 
forth. An entity composed merely 
of a physical and an etheric body 
has nothing of all this, to which 
may be ascribed the term — sensa- 
tion. The plant has no sensation. 
If many a learned man of our 
time concludes that plants have a 
certain power of sensation, from 
the fact that many of them re- 
spond to a stimulus, by movement, 
or in other ways, he merely shows 
that he does not know the essence 
of sensation. . The point is, not 
whether the being in question re- 
sponds to an outward stimulus, 
but rather whether the stimulus 
reflects itself through an inner 
experience, such as pleasure or 
pain, impulse, desire, etc. If this 

22 



EDUCATION OP CHILDREN 

be not the standard of sensation, 
one would be justified in assert- 
ing that blue litmus paper has a 
sense of feeling for certain sub- 
stances, because on coming into 
contact with them, it turns red.* 

Man has the astral body in com- 
mon with the animal world only. 
It is thus the medium for the life 
of sensation and feeling. 

One must not fall into the error 
of certain theosophical circles and 
think that the etheric body and 



* This distinction is important, for the 
ideas of the present time with regard to 
this subject are rather inaccurate. The 
difference between the vegetable and the 
creature gifted with the power of sensa- 
tion is completely lost sight of, because the 
essential characteristic of sensibility is 
not clearly defined. When a being (or an 
object) responds to an exterior impres- 
sion by showing any effect whatever, it is 
inaccurate to conclude that this impres- 
sion has been felt. To bear out this con- 



23 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

astral body consist merely of finer 
matter than that wbicli exists in 
the physical body. For this would 
mean simply the materialisation of 
these higher principles of human 
nature. The etheric body is a form 
of living forces; it is composed of 
active forces, but not of matter 
— and the astral body or body of 
feeling is a form consisting of 



elusion the impression must be experi- 
enced inwardly, that is to say, the outside 
stimulus must produce a kind of interior 
reflection. The great progress of natural 
science, which a true Theosophist must 
sincerely admire, has thrown our abstract 
vocabulary into confusion. Some of our 
biologists are ignorant of the characteris- 
tics of sensibility, and thus accredit it to 
beings who are devoid of it. Sensibility 
such as is comprehended by those biolo_ 
gists, can, it is true, be attributed to or- 
ganisms deprived of it. But what is 
understood by Theosophy as sensibility is 
a totally different quality. 



24 



EDUCATION OP CHILDREN 

colored luminous pictures revolv- 
ing within themselves* 

The astral body differs in form 
and size from the physical body. 
It appears in man in the form 
of an oblong egg, in which the 
physical and the etheric bodies 
are embedded. It projects on all 
sides beyond these two like a lumi- 
nous cloud. 

Now in the nature of man there 
is a fourth principle which he does 
not share with other earthly crea- 
tures. This is the vehicle of the 
human ^'I". The little word **I'' 
as we call it in English is a word 
that separates itself from all other 
words. He who duly reflects on 



* A distinction must be made between 
the conscious inner life of the astral body 
and the perception of this life by outward 
clairvoyant observation. Here this latter 
perception by a trained clairvoyant is in- 
tended. 



25 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

the nature of this word, gains ac- 
cess at the same time to an under- 
standing of human nature. Every 
other word may be used by all men 
in the same way to suit some cor- 
responding object. Anyone can 
call a table ^Hable," any one can 
call a chair ^^ chair/' but with the 
word ^^I" it is not so. No one 
can use it as an indication of 
some one else, for each person can 
only speak of himself as ^^I''. 
Never can the word ^'I'' sound in 
my ears as a reference to myself. 
For a man in designating himself 
^'I", must name himself within 
himself. A being that can say to 
himself ^'I'' is a world in himself. 
Those religions which are built up 
on the basis of Theosophy have 
always felt this. They have there- 
fore said that with the ^^ego'' the 
God begins to speak within — the 

26 



EDUCATION OP CHILDREN 

God who, among lower beings, is 
manifested only from witliont in 
the surrounding phenomena. 

The vehicle of this lastly de- 
veloped capacity is now ^Hhe body 
of the ego," the fourth principle 
of the human being.* This body 
of the ego is the vehicle of the 
higher human soul, and through 
it man is the crown of all earthly 
creation. But the ego in present 
humanity is by no means a simple 
entity. Its nature can be recog- 
nized when a comparison is made 
between men of different stages 
of evolution. Take for instance 



* The reader need not object to the 
technical term "Body of the ego," because 
there is nothing of gross physical matter 
meant by it, but occult science being forced 
to employ the vocabulary of ordinary 
language, the words applied to Theosophy 
ought from the outset to be taken in a 
spiritual sense. 



27 



EDUCATION OP CHILDREN 

the uneducated savage and the 
average European, and compare 
these again with a lofty idealist. 
Each one of them has the faculty 
of saying to himself ^'I'' for the 
**body of the ego'' is existent in 
each of them. But the uncivilized 
savage gives way with this **I" to 
his passions, his impulses and ap- 
petites, almost like an animal. The 
more highly developed man allows 
himself to follow certain inclina- 
tions and desires, others he checks 
or suppresses. The idealist has 
formed, in addition to the original 
inclinations and passions, others 
that are higher. This is all due to 
the fact that the ^^ego'' has been 
at work on the other principles of 
the human being. And it is pre- 
cisely the mission of the *^ego" 
to ennoble and purify the other 
principles by its own power. 

28 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

So the lower principles, under 
the influence of the ^^ego," have 
become more or less changed 
within a man who has surmounted 
the conditions in which the outer 
world has placed him. Take the 
case of the man who is just raising 
himself above the level of the ani- 
mal — when his ^^ego" flashes out 
he still resembles the animal with 
regard to his lower principles. 
His etheric or vital body is solely 
the medium of the living con- 
structive forces of growth and 
propagation. His astral body only 
gives expression to such impul- 
ses, desires and passions as are 
stimulated by his outer nature. 
All the time that the man is 
struggling on through successive 
lives, or incarnations, from this 
degree of culture to an ever higher 
evolution, his ego is remodelling 

29 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

the other principles. In this way 
the astral body becomes the 
medium of purified pleasurable 
and unpleasurable sensations, re- 
fined desires and longings. And 
the etheric, or vital body, also 
transforms itself. It becomes the 
vehicle of habits, of permanent in- 
clinations of temperament and of 
memory. A man whose ego has not 
yet influenced his vital body has 
no remembrance of the experi- 
ences he undergoes. He lives 
just as he has been brought up 
by Nature. 

The whole development of civi- 
lisation expresses itself for man 
in this working of the ego upon 
the subordinate principles. This 
working penetrates even to the 
physical body. Under the influ- 
ence of the ego, the physiognomy, 
the gestures and movements, the 



30 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

whole appearance of the physical 
body, change. 

One can also discern how differ- 
ently the various mediums of 
civilisation affect the individual 
principles of the human being. 
The common factors of civilisa- 
tion influence the astral body. 
They bring to it other kinds of 
pleasure, displeasure, impulse, etc., 
than it originally had. Absorption 
in a work of art influences the 
etheric body, for a man obtains 
through a work of art, the pre- 
sentiment of something higher 
and nobler than that which is 
offered by the environment of the 
senses, and thus transforms his 
vital body. A powerful means for 
the purification and ennoblement 
of the etheric body is religion. 
Eeligious impulses have, in this 
way, their sublime mission in the 

3X 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

evolution of humanity. 

That which is called conscience 
is nothing but the result of the 
work of the ego on the vital body, 
through a succession of incarna- 
tions. When a man perceives that 
he must not do certain things, and 
when through this perception, an 
impression is made on him, deep 
enough to communicate itself to 
his etheric body, the conscience 
begins to be formed. 

Now this work of the ego on the 
subordinate principles can either 
be one that belongs rather to the 
whole human race, or it can be 
quite individually a work of the 
single ego upon itself. In the 
first change of man, to a certain 
extent, the whole human race 
takes part; the latter must de- 
pend on the inner activity of the 
ego. When the ego grows strong 



32 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

enough entirely to remodel the 
astral body through its own 
strength, then that which the ego 
makes of this astral body or body 
of feeling is called the ^^Spirit- 
Self (Geistesselbst)* or as they 
say in the East, Manas. This trans- 
formation consists essentially in 
an imbuing, in an enriching of 
the inner being with higher ideas 
and perceptions. But the ego can 
arrive at yet higher and more in- 
timate work with regard to the 
special entity of man. This 
occurs when not merely the astral 



*The terms "Spirit-Self," "Life-Spirit" 
and "Spirit-Man" need not mystify the 
reader; they stand for those transmuta- 
tions of our grosser bodies which are the 
results of conscious eifort and pure aspi- 
rations; they form, in other words, the 
Higher Trinity, called in Eastern termi- 
nology: Manas, Buddhi and Atma, re- 
spectively. (Trans.) 



83 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

body is enriched, bnt when the 
etheric or vital body becomes 
transformed. Man learns a cer- 
tain amount in the course of life, 
and when he looks back on his 
life from any point, he is able to 
say to himself: ^'I have learnt 
much,'' but how much less is he 
able to speak of a change of tem- 
perament and character, of an im- 
provement or deterioration of the 
memory, during life. Learning 
affects the astral body, whilst the 
latter transformations afPect the 
ethic or vital body. It would 
therefore be no inapt simile to 
compare the change of the astral 
body in life to the movement of 
the minute-hand of the clock, the 
change of the vital body to that of 
the hour-hand. 

When a man enters upon the 
higher, or so-called occult train- 



34 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

ing, the chief thing to bear in 
mind is that he at once begins 
this latter transformation by the 
innermost might of the ego. He 
must work quite consciously and 
individually at the changing of 
habits, temperament, character, 
memory, etc. As much of this 
vital body as he works upon in 
this way becomes transformed 
into the ^' Life- Spirit'' (Lebens- 
geist), or as the Eastern expres- 
sion has it, into Buddhi. 

On a yet higher stage of evolu- 
tion man attains to powers by 
which he can effect a transforma- 
tion of his physical body (as for 
example, changing the pulse and 
the circulation of the blood). As 
much of the physical body as is 
transformed in this way, is called 
^^ Spirit-Man" (Geistesmensch) — 
Atma. 



35 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

The changes which are effected 
in the lower principles by man, 
not as an individual, but rather as 
a whole group of the human race, 
or a part of it, such as a nation, 
a tribe, or a family — have in 
Theosophy, the following names. 
The astral body, or body of feeling, 
when transformed by the ego is 
called the emotional soul; the 
transformed etheric body becomes 
the rational soul, and the trans- 
formed physical body, the self- 
conscious soul. But it is not to 
be supposed that the transforma- 
tion of these three principles takes 
place successively. It takes place 
in all three bodies simultaneously, 
from the moment when the ego 
flashes out. Indeed the work of 
the ego is not generally speaking 
perceptible until a part of the 
self-conscious soul is formed. 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

It is seen from the foregoing 
paragraph that there are four 
principles in the Being of Man: 
the physical body, the etheric or 
vital body, the astral or body of 
feeling and the ego-body; — the 
emotional soul, the rational soul, 
the self-conscious soul — and in- 
deed the yet higher principles of 
human nature also, — the Spirit- 
Self (Manas), the Life-Spirit 
(Buddhi), the Spirit-Man (Atma) 
appear as the products of the 
transformation of these four prin- 
ciples. In speaking about the 
sources of our human capacities, 
only these four principles can be 
taken into account. 

As a teacher works upon these 
four principles of the human con- 
stitution, one must, in order to 
work in the right way, penetrate 
into the nature of these divisions 



37 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

of man. Now it must by no means 
be imagined that these parts de- 
velop themselves in man in such a 
way that at any one moment of 
his life — say at his birth — ^they 
are all equally advanced. On the 
contrary their development takes 
place at the various life-periods 
in a different way. And the right 
foundations for education and in- 
struction depend on the knowledge 
of this law of the evolution of 
human nature. 

Before physical birth the nascent 
human being is enclosed on all 
sides by an alien physical body. 
It does not come into contact in- 
dependently with the outward 
physical world. The physical 
body of the mother forms its en- 
vironment. This body alone can 
influence the maturing foetus. 
Physical birth consists precisely 

38 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

in the fact that the physical body 
of the mother releases the child, 
thereby causing the surroundings 
of the physical world to inlfluence 
him immediately. The senses open 
themselves to the outward world, 
and this latter is thereby able to 
exercise those influences over the 
child which were previously exer- 
cised by the physical body of the 
mother. 

For a spiritual comprehension 
of the world such as is repre 
sented by Theosophy, the physical 
body is then actually born, but not 
yet the etheric or vital body. As 
the child until the moment of its 
birth is surrounded by the physical 
body of the mother, so too until 
the time of his second teeth, about 
the age of seven, is he surrounded 
by an etheric and an astral cover- 
ing. Not until the time of the 

89 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

change of teeth does the etheric 
covering release the etheric body. 
Then until the time of puberty 
there still remains an astral cover- 
ing.* At this period the astral 
or desire body also becomes free 
on all sides, as did the physical 
body at the time of the physical 
birth and the etheric body at the 
time of the second teeth. 

Thus then, Theosophy must 

* Were these affirmations to be wrongly 
interpreted, the objection might be raised 
that a child before cutting his second teeth 
is not deprived of memory, and that be- 
fore reaching the age of puberty, he pos- 
sesses the inherent faculties of the astral 
body. It must not be forgotten that the 
etheric and astral bodies are in existence 
from the moment of physical birth, al- 
though surrounded by the protecting shell 
described. It is precisely this envelope, 
protecting the etheric body, which permits 
of a remarkably good memory before the 
cutting of the second teeth. The exist- 
ence of physical eyes in the embryonic 



40 



EDUCATION OP CHILDREN 

speak of three births of man. Cer- 
tain impressions, which are in- 
tended to reach the etheric body 
can reach it as little, up to the 
time of the second teeth, as the 
light and air of the physical world 
can reach the physical body while 
it remains in the womb of the 
mother. 

Before the coming of the second 
teeth the free vital body is not at 

being, concealed in the womb of the mother, 
is analogous. And in the same way that 
the physical eyes sheltered from all ex- 
ternal influence do not owe their develop- 
ment to the physical sunlight, so also edu- 
cation from without should not intervene 
before the cutting of the second teeth in 
the training of the memory. Very much 
to the contrary, the spontaneous growth 
of the memory will be noticeable, provided 
there is food for it within reach, and no 
attempt be made to train it by means of 
exterior methods. 

This observation applies equally to the 
qualities belonging to the astral body be- 



41 



EDUCATION OP CHILDREN 

work. As the physical body, whilst 
in the womb of the mother, re- 
ceives powers which are not its 
own, and within that protective 
covering gradually develops its 
own, so is this also the case with 
these later powers of growth, until 
the time of the second teeth. Only 
at this period does the etheric 
body perfect its own powers in 
conjunction with the inherited and 
alien ones. During this time, while 



fore puberty. Provision should be made 
for their training, but bearing in mind that 
this body is still encompassed by a pro- 
tecting shell. It is something wholly differ- 
ent to take care of the germs which are 
in process of development within the astral- 
body before puberty and to expose the freed 
astral body after puberty to what it can 
assimilate in the outer world, without the 
protecting shell. This distinction is cer- 
tainly very subtle, but without its careful 
consideration the whole significance of 
education cannot be understood. 



42 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

the etheric body is freeing itself, 
the physical body is already inde- 
pendent. The etheric body which 
is gradually freeing itself, perfects 
that which it has to give to the 
physical body. And the final point 
of this work is the child's own 
teeth, which come in the place of 
those he has inherited. They are 
the densest things embedded in the 
physical body and therefore at 
this period appear last. 

After this period, the child's 
own etheric body takes care of 
its growth alone. Only the latter 
still remains nnder the influence 
of an enveloped astral body. As 
soon as the astral body becomes 
free as well, a period is termi- 
nated for the etheric body. This 
termination takes place at the time 
of puberty. The reproductive 
organs become independent, be- 



48 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

cause from henceforth the free 
astral body does not work in- 
wardly, but openly encounters the 
external world. 

As one is not able to let the 
influences of the outward world 
affect the child physically before 
it is born, so those powers (which 
are the same to him as the im- 
pressions of the physical sur- 
roundings to the physical body) 
should not be allowed to affect 
the etheric body before the time 
time of the second teeth. And 
the corresponding influences upon 
the astral body ought only to be 
brought into play at the time of 
puberty. 

Common phrases, such as, **the 
harmonious training of all the 
powers and talents,'' and the 
like cannot form the foundation 
for a true system of education, 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

for this can only be built upon a 
genuine knowledge of the human 
being. We do not mean to affirm 
that the above-mentined phrases 
are incorrect, but only that they 
are as valueless as if one were to 
say with regard to a machine, that 
all its parts must be brought into 
harmonious working order. Only 
he who approaches it, not with 
mere phrases, but with a real 
knowledge of the particular kind 
of machine, can handle it. This 
applies also to the art ef educa- 
tion, to the knowledge of the prin- 
ciples in a human being and of 
their individual developments; one 
must know which part of the hu- 
man being should be influenced at 
a certain time of life, and how to 
bring such influences to bear upon 
him in a suitable manner. There 
is indeed no doubt that a really 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

intelligent system of education, 
such as is outlined in these pages, 
can make its way but slowly. This 
is due to the manner of viewing 
things in our day, wherein the 
facts of the spiritual world will 
still be considered for a long time 
as merely the overflow of a mad 
fantasy, while common-place and 
entirely superficial phrases will 
be regarded as the result of a 
really practical way of thinking. 
We shall here proceed to give a 
free outline of what will be con- 
sidered by many at the present 
time a mere mirage of the fancy, 
but which will in time come to be 
an accepted fact. 
J At physical birth, the physical 

human body is exposed to the 
physical environment of the ex- 
ternal world, whilst previously it 
was encircled by the protective 

46 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

body of the motlier. That which 
the forces and fluids of the 
mother's body did to it pre- 
viously must now be done by the 
forces and elements of the outer 
physical world. Up to the time of 
the second teething, at the age of 
seven, the human body has a mis- 
sion to perform for itself, which 
is essentially different from the 
missions of all the other life- 
epochs. The physical organs must 
form themselves into certain 
shapes during this time; then 
structural proportions must take 
definite directions and tendencies. 
Later on growth takes place, but 
this growth in all future time pro- 
ceeds on the bases of the shapes 
which were in process of forma- 
tion until the time mentioned. If 
normal shapes have been forming 
themselves, normal shapes will 

47 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

afterwards grow, and conversely 
from abnormal bases will proceed 
abnormal results. One cannot 
make amends in all the succeeding 
years for that which, as guardian, 
one has neglected during the first 
seven years. As the right environ- 
ment for the physical human body 
is provided by Nature, before 
birth, so after birth it is the 
duty of the guardian to pro- 
vide it. Only this correct physi- 
cal environment influences the 
child in such a way that his 
physical organs mould themselves 
into the normal forms. 

There are two magic words 
which epitomise the relation 
which is formed between the child 
and its environment. These are: 
Imitation and Example. Aris- 
totle,, the Greek philosopher, 
called man the most imitative of 



48 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

animals, and for no other period 
of life is this more applicable than 
for the age of childhood up to 
the time of the second teething. 
The child imitates whatever takes 
place in its physical environment, 
and in the imitation his physical 
organs monld themselves into the 
forms which then remain to them. 
The term physical environment is 
to be taken in the widest sense 
imaginable. To it belongs not only 
that which takes place materially 
round the child, but everything 
that is enacted in his surround- 
ings, everything that may be ob- 
served by his senses, everything 
that from all points of physical 
space can influence his spiritual 
forces. To it also belong all 
actions, moral or immoral, sensi- 
ble or foolish, that the child may 
see. 



48 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

It is not by moral texts, nor 
by rational precepts, but by 
what is done visibly before the 
child by the grown-up people 
around him, that he is influenced 
in the manner indicated. Instruc- 
tion produces effects only upon 
the etheric body, not upon the 
physical, and up to the age of 
seven the etheric body is sur- 
rounded by a protective etheric 
shell, just as the physical body 
until physical birth is surrounded 
by the body of the mother. That 
which ought to be developed in 
this etheric body in the way of 
ideas, habits, memory, etc., before 
the age of seven, must develop it- 
self *^ spontaneously,'' in the same 
way as the eyes and ears develop 
themselves in the womb of the 
mother without the influence of 
the external light. It is written in 



50 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

an excellent educational book, Jean 
Paul's Levana or Pedagogics, that 
a world-traveller learns more from 
his nurse in his early years than 
in all of his travels put together. 
This is undoubtedly true, but the 
child does not learn by instruc- 
tion, but by imitation. And his 
physical organs form themselves 
through the influence of his physi- 
cal surroundings. A healthy 
vision is formed when the right 
colors and conditions of light are 
brought into the child's environ- 
ment, and the physical founda- 
tions for a healthy moral nature 
are formed in the brain and in the 
circulation of the blood, when the 
child sees moral things in his en- 
vironment. When the child, up to 
the age of seven, sees only foolish, 
actions taking place around him, 
his brain assumes such forms as 



51 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

to make him also, in later life, 
capable only of foolishness. 

As the muscles of the hand grow 
strong and powerful when they do 
work suitable for them, so the 
brain and the other organs of the 
physical human body will be di- 
rected towards the right path, if 
they receive the right impressions 
from their environment. An ex- 
ample will best illustrate the point 
in question. A doll can be made 
out of an old piece of cloth, by 
making two corners serve for arms, 
two for legs and a knot for the 
head, with the eyes, nose and 
mouth painted in ink — or a so- 
called ^^ beautiful'' doll can be 
bought with real hair and painted 
cheeks, and given to the child. 
The latter, it is hardly necessary 
to say, is really horrible, and is 
calculated to ruin the child's 



S2 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

sound aesthetic taste for life. 
Here the question of education is 
quite a different one. If the child 
has the rag-doll to look at, it has 
to complete out of its own imagi- 
nation the impression of a human 
being which the doll is intended to 
convey. This work of the im- 
agination helps to build up the 
forms of the brain, so that it 
opens up as the muscles of the 
hand expand by doing their natural 
work. When the child possesses 
the so-called ^^ beautiful doll,'' 
there is nothing further for the 
brain to do. It becomes, as it 
were, stunted and dried up, in- 
stead of expanding itself. If 
people could look into the brain 
after the manner of the occultist 
and see it building itself up into 
forms, they would certainly only 
give their children that kind of 

58 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

plaything which is really able to 
stimulate the creative powers of 
the brain. All toys that are only 
composed of dead mathematical 
forms have a desolating and dead- 
ening effect on the child's forma- 
tive powers, whilst on the other 
hand everything that stimulates 
the perception of something living 
tends to influence in the right di- 
rection. Our materialistic age 
produces but few good toys — such 
for instance as that in which two 
movable pieces of wood are made 
to represent two smiths facing one 
another and hammering at some 
object. Such things may still be 
bought in the country. Very good 
also are those picture books in 
which the figures are made to be 
pulled by strings, thus enabling 
the child to transform the dead 
picture into a representation of 

54 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

action. All this produces an inner 
activity of the organs, and out of 
this activity the right form of the 
organs builds itself up. 

Of course these things can only 
just be indicated here, but in the 
future occult science will be called 
upon to point out that which in 
each particular case is necessary, 
and this it is able to do. For it 
is not an empty abstraction, but a 
body of vital facts quite able to 
furnish the guiding-lines for prac- 
tical matters. 

One or two further examples 
will serve as illustrations. Ac- 
cording to occult science a so- 
called nervous excitable child 
should be treated differently from 
a lethargic and inactive one, with 
regard to its surroundings. Every- 
thing must be taken into con- 
sideration, from the color of the 

55 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

room and the various objects by 
wMcb the child is generally sur- 
rounded, to the color of the 
clothes in which it is dressed. 
One may often do the wrong 
thing, unless willing to be guided 
by occult science, for a material- 
istic tendency will in many cases 
hit on just the opposite of what is 
right. An excitable child s^hould 
be clothed and surrounded with 
red or reddish-yellow colors, whilst 
for the opposite type of child, 
blue or bluish-green should be 
selected. For, in accordance with 
the color used outwardly is the 
complementary color produced in- 
wardly. Thus, for instance, green 
is produced by red; orange-yellow 
by blue, and of this one may easily 
be convinced by looking for a time 
on a spot of a particular color 
and then quickly directing the 

56 



i:nUCATION OF CHILDREN 

eyes to a white surface. This 
complementary color is produced 
by the physical organs of the child, 
and in turn reacts upon the cor- 
responding organic structures 
necessary to the child. Bed in 
the environment of an excitable 
child produces inwardly the green 
complementary picture. The ac- 
tivity thus produced by the sensa- 
tion of green has a calming effect 
and the organs take upon them- 
selves the tendency to composure. 
One rule must invariably be 
taken into consideration at this 
period of life — that the physical 
body has to create for itself the 
standard of what is suitable to 
it. It does this through the cor- 
responding development of desire. 
Generally speaking it may be said 
that the healthy physical body de- 
sires only what is good for it. 

67 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

And as long as it is a question 
only of the physical body of the 
growing child, one ought to notice 
carefully what it is that is sought 
by the healthy desires, cravings 
and pleasures. Joy and pleasure 
are the powers which draw out 
the physical forms of the organs, 
in the best way. 

A very great error may be com- 
mitted in this direction by not 
placing the child in the suitable 
physical conditions with regard 
to its environment. This can es- 
pecially be the case with regard 
to the instinct of nourishment. 
The child can be overfed with 
things that make him completely 
lose healthy instincts of nourish- 
ment, whilst through correct feed- 
ing they can be preserved for him 
so fully, that he will ask (even to 
a glass of water) for that which 

58 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

under given circumstances is good 
for him, and will refuse anything 
that may be harmful. When 
occult science is called upon to 
construct a system of education, 
it will be able to specify, even to 
the particular articles of nourish- 
ment and table luxuries, all that 
has here to be considered. For 
it is a practical teaching, applica- 
ble to life, and no mere colorless 
theory — as indeed one might sup- 
pose, from the mistakes of many 
Theosophists of to-day. 

Among the forces therefore 
which affect the physical organs 
by 'moulding them, must be in- 
cluded an element of joy with 
and amid the surroundings. Let 
the guardian be cheerful of coun- 
tenance, and above all things let 
there be true and not artificial 
love — a love that flowing warmly 

59 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

through the physical environment, 
as it were, incubates, in the true 
sense of the word, the forms of 
the physical organs. 

When within such an atmos- 
phere of love, the imitation of 
healthy models is possible, the 
child is in his right element. 
Special attention should therefore 
be given that nothing may happen 
in the child's environment that 
he should not imitate. Nothing 
should be done that would neces- 
sitate saying to the child **You 
must not do that.*' Of the way 
in which the child tries to imi- 
tate, one may be convinced by ob- 
serving how it can copy written 
letters long before it can under- 
stand them. It is indeed an ad- 
visable thing for the child to copy 
the written characters first, and then 
later to learn their meaning. For 

60 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

imitation belongs to the develop- 
ing stage of tlie physical body, 
whilst the mind responds to the 
etheric body, and this latter ought 
only to be influenced after the 
time of the second teeth, when its 
outer etheric covering is gone. 
Especially should the learning of 
speech by means of imitation take 
place in these years. For by 
hearing the child best learns to 
speak. All rules and artificial 
teaching can do no good at all. 

In the early years of childhood 
it is especially important that 
such means of education as, for 
instance, songs for children should 
make as beautiful a rhythmic im- 
pression on the senses as possi- 
ble. The importance lies in the 
beautiful sound rather than in the 
sense. The more invigorating the 
effect which anything can have 

61 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

upon the eye and ear, the better 
it is. The power of building up 
the organs which lies in dancing 
movements when put to a musical 
rhythm, for example, must not be 
under-estimated. 

With the change of teeth the 
etheric body throws off its outer 
covering, and then the time begins 
in which the training of the etheric 
body may be carried on from 
without. One must be clear as to 
what it is that can influence the 
etheric body in this way. The 
transformation and growth of the 
etheric body signify, respectively, 
the transformation and develop- 
ment of the affections, the habits, 
conscience, character, memory 
and temperament. One is able 
to influence the etheric body by 
pictures, by example, by regu- 
lated guidance of the imagination. 

62 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

Just as the child, until it has 
reached the age of seven, ought to 
be given a physical model which it 
can imitate, so too, in the environ- 
ment of the developing child, be- 
tween the period of the second 
teeth and that of puberty, every- 
thing should be brought into play 
that possesses an inner sense and 
value upon which the child may 
direct his attention. All that con- 
duces to thought, all that works 
through image and parable, has 
now its rightful place. 

The etheric body develops its 
power when a well regulated im- 
agination is directed upon that 
which it can unravel or extract 
for its guidance from living images 
and parables, or from such as are 
addressed to the spirit. It is con- 
crete and not abstract ideas that 
can rightly influence the growing 

63 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

body — ideas that are spiritually 
rather than materially concrete. 
A spiritual standpoint is the right 
means of education during these 
years. It is therefore of para- 
mount importance that the youth 
at this period has around him in 
his guardians themselves person- 
alities through whose points of 
view the desirable intellectual and 
moral powers may be awakened 
in him. 

As ** imitation'' and ** example'' 
are the magic words for the train- 
ing of children in their early 
years, so for the years now in 
question the corresponding words 
are ^* hero-worship" and *' author- 
ity." Natural and not forced au- 
thority must supply the immedi- 
ate spiritual standpoint, with the 
help of which the youth forms for 
himself conscience, habits and in- 

64 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

clinations, brings Ms tempera- 
ment into regulated paths, and 
wins his own outlook on this 
world. The beautiful words of 
the poet: "Everyone must choose 
his own hero, in whose steps he 
may find the way to Olympus," 
are of special value with regard 
to this epoch of life. 
yVeneration and reverence are 
powers that assist the etheric body 
to grow in the right way. And 
he to whom it is impossible, dur- 
ing this period, to look up to any- 
one with unlimited reverence, will 
have to suffer on that account for 
thjB rest of his life. When this 
veneration is missing, the vital 
forces of the etheric body are 
checked. Picture to yourself the 
following in its effect on the 
youthful disposition: a boy of 
eight years of age is told of a 

65 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

person highly esteemed. All that 
he hears about him fills him with 
holy awe. The day draws near 
on which he is to see this honored 
person for the first time. A pro- 
found reverence overcomes him 
when he hears the bell-ring at the 
door, behind which the object of 
his veneration is to become visi- 
ble. The beautiful feelings which 
are produced by such an experi- 
ence, belong to the lasting ac- 
quisitions of life. And that man 
is fortunate, who not only during 
the happy moments of life, but 
continuously, is able to look up to 
his teachers and instructors as to 
his natural authorities. 

To these living authorities, to 
these embodiments of moral and 
intellectual power, must be added 
the authorities perceived of the 
spirit. The grand examples of 

66 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

history, the tales of model men 
and women, must fix the con- 
science and the intellectual ten- 
dency — and not abstract moral 
truths, which can only do their 
right work, when, at the age of 
puberty, the astral body is freed 
from its astral covering. 

One ought especially to guide 
the teaching of history into 
courses determined by such points 
of view. Before the time of the 
second teeth, the stories, fairy 
tales, etc., which are told to the 
child, can only have for their aim, 
joy, recreation, and pleasure. 

After this time it will be neces- 
sary to use forethought concern- 
ing the matter that is to be re- 
lated, so that pictures of life, such 
as he can beneficially emulate, 
may be set before the soul of the 
young person. It must not be 

67 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

overlooked that bad habits can be 
ousted by pictures correspond- 
ingly repulsive. Warnings against 
such bad habits and tendencies 
are at best of little avail, but if 
one were to let the living picture 
of a bad man affect the youthful 
imagination, explaining the result 
to which the tendency in question 
leads, one would do much toward 
its extermination. 

One thing to bear always in 
mind is, that it is not abstract 
representations that influence the 
developing etheric body, but liv- 
ing pictures in their spiritual 
clearness, and, of course, these 
latter must be applied with the 
utmost tact, for otherwise the op- 
posite to what is desired will be 
the result. In the matter of 
stories it is always a question of 
the way in which they are told. 

68 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

The verbal narration of a tale can 
therefore not be successfully re- 
placed by a reading of it. 

During the time between the 
second teeth and puberty, the 
spiritually pictorial, or, as one 
might also call it, the symbolical 
representation, ought to be con- 
sidered in yet another way. It is 
necessary that the young person 
should learn to know the secrets 
of nature, the laws of life, as far 
as possible through symbols and 
not by the means of dry and in- 
tellectual ideas. Allegories about 
the spiritual relation of things 
ought so to reach the soul that 
the law and order of existence 
underlying the allegories is rather 
perceived and divined, than grasped 
by the means of intellectual ideas. 
The saying that **all things tran- 
sient are only symbols'' ought 

69 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

to form an all-important motto 
for ' the education during this 
period. It is very important for 
a person to receive the secrets 
of nature in allegories before 
they appear to his soul in the 
form of natural laws, etc. An 
example will make this clear. 
Supposing one wished to speak to 
a young person of the immortal- 
ity of the soul, of its going forth 
from the body, one might as an 
instance make the comparison of 
the butterfly emerging from the 
chrysalis. As the butterfly comes 
forth from the chrysalis, so the 
soul comes forth from the shell 
of the body after death. No one 
who has not previously received 
them by means of some such 
image, will adequately grasp the 
right facts in the abstract ideas. 
For by such a simile one speaks 

70 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

not only to the intellect, but also 
to the sensations and feelings, to 
the whole soul. The youth having 
gone through all this, approaches 
the matter in quite a different at- 
titude of mind when it is given to 
him later in intellectual concep- 
tions. Indeed the man who can- 
not first approach the riddle of 
existence with this feeling is much 
to be pitied. It is necessary that 
the teacher should have similes at 
his disposal for all natural laws 
and secrets of the world. 

In this matter it is quite clear 
what an enriching effect occult 
science must have upon practical 
life. Any one constructing from 
a materialistic and intellectual 
mode of representation, similes 
for himself and then propounding 
them to young people, will usually 
make but little impression upon 

71 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

them. For such a person ought first 
to puzzle out the similes himself 
with all his mental capacities. 
Those similes which one has not 
first applied for oneself, do not 
have a convincing effect on those 
to whom they are imparted. When 
one talks to somebody in parables, 
then he is not only influenced by 
what one says or shows, but there 
passes a fine spiritual stream 
from the speaker to the hearer. 
Unless the speaker himself has an 
ardent feeling of belief in his 
similes, he will make no impres- 
sion on the one to whom he gives 
them. In order to create a right 
influence, one must believe in one's 
similes oneself as if in realities; 
and that can only be done when 
one possesses the mystical ten- 
dency, and when the similes them- 
selves are born of occult science. 



72 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

The real occultist does not need 
to worry about the above-men- 
tioned simile of the soul going 
forth from the body, because for 
him it is a truth. To him the 
butterfly evolving from the chry- 
salis represents the same experi- 
ence on a lower stage of nature's 
existence as the going forth of 
the soul from the body at a higher 
stage development. He believes 
in it with all his might, and this 
belief flows forth as if in invisible 
streams from the speaker to the 
listener, and inspires conviction. 
Direct life-streams then flow forth 
from teacher to pupil. But for 
this end it is necessary for the 
teacher to draw from the full 
source of occult science; it is 
necessary that his word and all 
that goes forth from him, should 
be clothed with feeling, warmth 

73 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

and glowing emotion from the true 
occult view of life. For this re- 
veals a magnificent perspective 
of the whole subject of educa- 
tion. Once the latter allows it- 
self to be enriched from the life 
source of occult science, it will 
itself become permeated with a 
profound vitality. It will give 
up groping in the dark, so com- 
mon in this particular domain of 
thought. All educational methods, 
all educational sciences, that do 
not continually receive a supply 
of fresh sap from such roots, are 
dried up and dead. For all world- 
secrets occult science has fitting 
similes, similes not rising from 
the mind of man but drawn from 
the essence of things, having 
been laid down as a basis by the 
forces of the world at their crea- 
tion. Occult science must there- 



74 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

fore be the basis for any system 
of education. 

A power of the sonl to which 

particular attention ought to be 

given at this period of develop- 
ment is that of memory. For the 
cultivation of the memory is con- 
nected with the transformation 
of the etheric body. This has its 
effect in the fact that precisely 
during the time between the com- 
ing of the second teeth and that 
of puberty it becomes free, so that 
this is also the period in which 
the further development of the 
memory should be looked after 
from outside. The memory will 
be permanently of less value to 
the person in question than it 
might have been, if at this period 
what is necessary to it is ne- 
glected. That which has thus been 

75 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

neglected cannot afterwards be 
retrieved. 

An intellectual and materialis- 
tic way of thinking is liable to 
bring about many mistakes in this 
direction. A system of education 
arising from this way of thinking 
is easily prejudiced against that 
which is acquired merely by the 
memory. It will not tire at times 
of directing itself with the great- 
est ardor against the mere train- 
ing of the memory, and rather 
makes use of the most ingenious 
methods that the young person 
may not mechanically absorb what 
he does not really understand. 
An opinion merely intellectual 
and materialistic is so easily per- 
suaded that there is no means of 
penetrating into things except by 
abstract ideas; it is only with 
difficulty that thinkers of this 

76 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

kind come to the conclusion that 
the other subjective powers are 
at least just as necessary to the 
comprehension of things, as the 
intellect itself. It is not merely a 
figure of speech to say that one 
can understand just as well with 
the feelings, the emotions, the 
mind, as with the intellect. Ideas 
are only one of the means by 
which to understand the things 
of this world, and only to ma- 
terialists do they appear the only 
means. There are, of course, 
many people who do not imagine 
that they are materialists, but 
who nevertheless consider an in- 
tellectual conception to be the only 
means of comprehension. Such 
men profess perhaps to hold an 
idealistic, perhaps even a spirit- 
ual conception of the world and 
life. But the attitude of their 



77 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

souls toward both is materialistic. 
For the intellect is, as a matter 
of fact, the soul's instrument for 
the comprehension of material 
things. 

And here, concerning the deeper 
foundations of the understand- 
ing, let us quote from that excel- 
lent educational book, by Jean 
Paul already mentioned — a work 
containing generally golden ideas 
concerning education and deserv- 
ing of much more consideration 
than at present it receives. It is 
of much more value to the guar- 
dian than many of the writings 
on these lines that enjoy the high- 
est repute. The passage under 
consideration runs thus: 

^^Do not be afraid of unintelli- 
gibility, even if it be of whole 
sentences; your look and the man- 
ner of your expression, added to 

78 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

the eager desire to understand, 
elucidates the one half, and with 
this, and in due time, the other half 
also. For with children, as with the 
Chinese and with men of the world, 
the manner of pronunciation is half 
the language. Bear in mind, that 
they understand their language as 
well as we understand Greek or any 
other foreign tongue before learn- 
ing to speak it. Trust to the de- 
ciphering of time and to association. 
A child of five years of age 
understands indeed the words 
^ ^ yet, ' ' * ^ truly, ^ ' * ^ on the contrary, ' ' 
^ ^ of course ' ' ; but for a definition of 
them one must go not to the child, 
but to the father! The little word 
*^but'' reveals a small philosopher. 
If the eight-year-old child with his 
growing power of speech is under- 
stood by a child of three, why should 
you then confine your language to 

79 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

his babbling'? Always speak several 
years in advance (for in books 
genius speaks to us centuries in 
advance) ; with the child of a year, 
speak as if it were two, with the 
child of two as if it were six, for 
the difference of growth may di- 
minish in inverse proportion to the 
years. Generally speaking, all 
learning is apt to be too much as- 
cribed to the credit of the teacher — 
therefore the teacher ought to bear 
in mind that the child possesses 
half his world, namely, the spiritual 
(such as his moral and metaphysical 
ideas), already complete and taught 
within himself, and that therefore a 
language composed only of con- 
crete images can never impart 
spiritual ideas, but can only light 
them up. The joy and assurance 
used in speaking to children ought 
to be given as if the assurance and 

80 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

joy came from themselves. We can 
learn speech from them, just as we 
teach them by means of speech; by 
means of bold and yet correct word- 
painting, such as for instance I 
have heard spoken by children of 
three and four years of age: 'leg- 
fish' for otter; 'pig-iron' for the 
fork used in eating bacon; 'the air- 
mouse' (unquestionably superior 
to our word 'bat') and so on." 

It is true that this passage re- 
fers to the understanding (before 
the intellectual comprehension) as 
exercised in another sphere than 
that of which we are now speak- 
ing, but for this also, the words 
of Jean Paul have an important 
meaning. Just as the child re- 
ceives into his soul's organism the 
construction of speech, without 
making use of the laws of gram- 
matical structure with intellectual 



81 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

comprehension, so too, for the cul- 
tivation of his memory, the youth 
ought to learn things of which he 
will not until later acquire an 
actual understanding. That which 
has been acquired in this period 
of life, at first in a purely me- 
chanical way, is best put into 
ideas, afterwards, just as one 
learns more easily the rules of a 
language when one can already 
speak it. All the talk of work 
learned by rote and not understood 
is nothing more than a material- 
istic prejudice. For instance, the 
youth needs only to acquire by a 
few examples the most necessary 
rules of multiplication, for which 
the fingers are far better suited 
than an abacus, and then to 
learn fully, by rote, the multipli- 
cation table. If one so proceeds, 
one takes into account the nature 



82 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

of the growing child. But a mis- 
take may be made with regard to 
this, if, during the time that the 
memory is forming itself, too 
much is demanded of the intellect. 
The intellect being a power of the 
soul, and only born at the time of 
puberty, ought not to receive an 
outward influence before this 
period. Until the time of puberty, 
the youth should assimilate into 
the memory treasur<^s over which 
mankind has meditated; later on 
it is time to permeate with ideas 
that which has been impressed 
upon his memory. A man ought 
therefore not to retain merely 
what he has understood, but he 
ought now to understand the 
things that he knows; that is to 
say, the things of which he has 
already taken possession by means 
of the memory, just as the child 

83 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

does, when learning to speak. 
This applies to a wider sphere. 
At first, assimilation of historical 
events by mere rote, then compre- 
hension of the same by means of 
ideas. At first, a good impression 
upon the memory of geographical 
data, then an understanding of 
the relationship of each thing with 
the rest, etc. In certain respects 
all comprehension through ideas 
should be done by means of the 
stored treasures of the memory. 
The more the youth already knows 
through the memory before he 
comes to comprehension, the bet- 
ter it is. It is hardly necessary 
to explain that all this applies only 
to the period, of which we are 
speaking, and not to any later 
period. If one learns a subject in 
later life, either by going over 
it again, or in any other way, the 



84 



EDUCATION OP CHILDREN 

opposite process to that here de- 
scribed might be correct and de- 
sirable, although even then a great 
deal depends upon the particular 
spiritual nature of the student. 
But at the time of life of which 
we have already spoken the spirit 
must not be parched by being 
overcrowded with intellectual 
ideas. 

It is also true that teaching by 
mere sense-objects, if carried too 
far, is the result of a materialis- 
tic view of life. At this age every 
idea must be spiritualised. One 
ought not, for instance, to be sat- 
isfied with merely producing a 
sense-impression of a plant, a 
grain of seed, or a blossom. 
Everything should seem as an alle- 
gory of the spiritual. A grain of 
seed is, in truth, not merely what 
it appears to the eye. Invisibly 

85 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

the whole new plant inhabits it, 
and that such a thing is more than 
what the sense perceives, must 
be absolutely realised with the per- 
ception, the imagination, and the 
feelings. The mysterious presence 
of latent existence must really be 
felt. Nor can it be objected that 
such a proceeding would weaken 
the perception of pure sense; on 
the contrary, by a persistent ad- 
herence to sense perceptions alone, 
Truth itself would be the loser. 
For the complete reality of a thing 
exists in Spirit and in Matter, 
and accurate observations can be 
no less carefully carried out if one 
brings to the study not only the 
physical senses, but also the spirit- 
ual faculties. If people could only 
perceive, as the Occultist is able 
to, how both body and soul are 
spoiled by mere object-teaching, 

86 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

they would not then lay so much 
stress upon it. Of what value is 
it from the highest point of view, 
if young people are shown all 
kinds of physical experiments in 
the mineral, vegetable and ani- 
mal worlds, if with such a study 
one does not suggest the applica- 
tion of the sense allegory to the 
feeling of spiritual mystery? Cer- 
tainly a materialistic mind will 
not be able to make anything of 
what has here been said, and of 
that the Occultist is only too con- 
scious. Yet it is also clear to 
him that a really practical method 
of education can never proceed 
from the materialistic mind. So 
practical does such a mind im- 
agine itself, and yet so unpracti- 
cal is it in reality, when it is a 
matter of considering life vitally. 
Opposed to the true reality, ma- 

87 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

terialistic opinions seem only fan- 
tastic, while to the materialist, the 
interpretations of occult science 
must, of necessity, appear equally 
fantastic. Doubtless, too, there 
will remain many obstacles which 
must be overcome before the fun- 
damental teachings of occult sci- 
ence, arising from life itself, will 
permeate the art of education. 
But that is to be expected, for at 
present these truths are strange 
to many; nevertheless, if they be 
really the truth, they will incorpo- 
rate themselves into all culture. 

Only through the sure convic- 
tion that they are the only educa- 
tional means by which to work 
upon young people, can the teacher 
always find the right way to deal 
correctly with each individual 
case. Thus, he must know how 
the individual powers of the soul 

88 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

— such as thinking, feeling and 
willing — ought to be treated, and 
how their development may react 
upon the etheric body; while this 
itself, between the period when the 
second teeth appear and that of 
puberty, can be perfectly moulded 
by outside influences. 

The foundations for the develop- 
ment of a healthy and powerful 
will can be laid by the right man- 
agement, during the first seven 
years, of those fundamental prin- 
ciples of education which have 
already been considered. For 
such a will must have for its sup- 
port the fully developed form of 
the physical body. From the 
period of the second teething it 
begins to be a matter of making 
the etheric body, which is now de- 
veloping, supply those powers to 
the physical body by which it can 

89 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

solidify its form and make itself 
firm. That which makes the most 
vivid impression upon the etheric 
body also reacts most forcibly 
upon the strengthening of the 
physical. And the strongest im- 
pulses are evoked in the etheric 
body through those perceptions 
and ideas by which a person feels 
and experiences his own relation 
to the everlasting Universe, that 
is to say, through religious experi- 
ences. The will, and along with it, 
the character, of a person will 
never develop healthily if he can- 
not experience at this epoch of 
life, profound religious impulses. 
The result of the uniform organi- 
sation of the will is that the per- 
son feels himself to be an organic 
fragment of the whole world. If 
the person does not feel himself to 
be indissolubly connected with a 



90 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

Supreme Spirit, then must the will 
and character remain unstable, 
discordant and unhealthy. 

The emotional nature is de- 
veloped in the right direction by 
means of the allegories and sense- 
pictures already described, and es- 
pecially by all which, whether from 
history or from other sources, 
presents to us the figures of per- 
sons with character. An absorp- 
tion in the mysteries and beauties 
of Nature is also of importance in 
the upbuilding of the emotional 
world. And here it is particularly 
well to consider the culture of the 
sense of beauty, and the awaken- 
ing of the feeling for what is ar- 
tistic. Music should supply that 
rhythm to the etheric body which 
then enables it to perceive in 
everything the rhythm otherwise 
concealed. A young person will be 

91 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

deprived of much in all Ms after 
life, who does not receive at this 
period the benefit of cultivating 
the musical sense. To him in 
whom this sense is altogether lack- 
ing, a certain aspect of the Uni- 
verse must remain hidden. Nor 
should, however, the other arts be, 
by any means neglected. The 
awakening of the sense for archi- 
tectural form, as also for plastic 
shape, for line, design and har- 
mony of color — not one of these 
ought to be omitted in the plan 
of education. So simply, perhaps, 
might all this be done, under 
special circumstances, that the ob- 
jection that circumstances allow 
of no development at all in this 
direction can never be valid. One 
can do much with the simplest 
means, if the right sense in this 
direction prevails in the teacher 

92 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

himself. The joy of life, the love 
for existence, the strength to 
work — all these arise for the whole 
being, out of the cultivation of 
the sense of beauty and art. And 
the relations of man to man — how 
ennobled and how beautiful will 
they become through this sense ! The 
moral sense, which will, at this 
period, be developed by pictures 
of life and by standard authori- 
ties, will also gain a certain sta- 
bility if, through the sense of 
beauty, the good is recognized as 
beautiful and the bad as ugly. 

Thought in its own shape, as 
an inner life of distilled ideas, 
must, at the period in question, 
be kept in the background. It 
must develop spontaneously, as it 
were, uninfluenced from without, 
while the soul is nourished by 
means of similes and pictures 

93 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

representing life and the mys- 
teries of nature. Thus, in the 
midst of the other experiences of 
the soul between the seventh 
year and the time of puberty, 
thought must grow and the 
faculty for judgment be matured, 
so that after a successful puberty 
the person becomes capable of 
{forming his own opinions con- 
cerning the matters of life and 
knowledge, with complete inde- 
pendence. Indeed, the less one 
works directly upon the critical 
faculty, and the more one works 
indirectly through the develop- 
ment of the other spiritual 
powers, the better will it be for 
the whole after-life of the person 
concerned. 

Occult science lays down the 
principles, not only for the spirit- 
ual side of education, but also for 

94 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

the purely physical. Thus, to 
give a characteristic example, let 
us consider gymnastics and chil- 
dren's games. Just as love and 
joy must permeate the environ- 
ment during the first years of 
childhood, so too the growing 
etheric body must be taught really 
to experience from bodily exer- 
cise a feeling of its own expan- 
sion, of its ever increasing 
strength. For instance gymnas- 
tic exercises ought to be so car- 
ried out that with every move- 
ment, with every step, the feeling 
rises in the inner self of the boy 
or girl: ^^I feel increasing power 
within me.'' And this feeling 
should manifest itself within as 
a healthy delight, as a sensation 
of pleasure. For the devising of 
gymnastic exercises, in this sense, 
it is of course necessary to possess 

95 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

more than a merely intellectual 
knowledge of the human body, 
anatomically and physiologically. 
It is necessary to possess a close 
intuitive and sympathetic knowl- 
edge of the relation of joy and 
comfort to the postures and move- 
ments of the human body. The 
formulator of such exercises 
ought himself to experience how 
one movement or posture of the 
limbs will produce a pleasant and 
comfortable sensation, but another 
a loss of strength, and so forth. 
A belief that gymnastics and 
bodily exercises can be cultivated 
in this direction is one that can 
only be supplied to the educator 
by occult science, or, above all, by 
a mind sympathetic to such 
thought. One does not even re- 
quire the power of vision in the 
spiritual worlds, but only the in- 

96 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

clination to apply to life what 
has been given out by occultism. 
If, especially in such practical de- 
partments as this of education, 
occult knowledge were applied, then 
all the useless talk of how this 
knowledge has yet to be proved 
would straightway cease. For to 
him who should rightly apply it, 
this knowledge would itself be a 
proof through the whole of life 
by making him healthy and strong. 
By such means he would per- 
ceive, through and through, that 
it is true in actual practice, and 
this he would find a better proof 
than any manner of *^ logical*' and 
so-called ^ ^ scientific ' ' reasons. One 
can best know spiritual truths by 
their fruits, and Pot through a 
pretended proof, however scien- 
tific, for such could hardly be 
anything more than a logical skir- 
mishing. 

97 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

At puberty the antral body is 
first born. With the free outward 
development which follows, all 
that which is unfolded by the 
world of externalised perceptions, 
by one^s judgment and the unfet- 
tered understanding, will first 
rush inward upon the soul. It has 
already been mentioned that these 
faculties of the soul, hitherto un- 
influenced from within, ought to 
be developed by the right man- 
agement of educational means, 
just as unconsciously as the eyes 
and ears evolve themselves in the 
womb. But with puberty the 
time has arrived when the person 
is ready to form his own. judg- 
ment concerning the things which 
he has hitherto learned. No 
greater injury can be inflicted on 
any one than by too soon awaken- 
ing within him his own judgment. 

98 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

clination to apply to life what 
has been given out by occultism. 
If, especially in such practical de- 
partments as this of education, 
occult knowledge were applied, then 
all the useless talk of how this 
knowledge has yet to be proved ^ 
would straightway cease. For to 
him who should rightly apply it, 
this knowledge would itself be a 
proof through the whole of life 
by making him healthy and strong. 
By such means he would per- 
ceive, through and through, that 
it is true in actual practice, and 
this he would find a better proof 
than any manner of ** logical'^ and 
so-called ^ ^ scientific ' ' reasons. One 
can best know spiritual truths by 
their fruits, and rot through a 
pretended proof, however scien- 
tific, for such could hardly be 
anything more than a logical skir- 
mishing. 

97 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

At puberty the astral body is 
first born. With the free outward 
development which follows, all 
that which is unfolded by the 
world of externalised perceptions, 
by one's judgment and the unfet- 
tered understanding, will first 
rush inward upon the soul. It has 
already been mentioned that these 
faculties of the soul, hitherto un- 
influenced from within, ought to 
be developed by the right man- 
agement of educational means, 
just as unconsciously as the eyes 
and ears evolve themselves in the 
womb. But with puberty the 
time has arrived when the person 
is ready to form his own judg- 
ment concerning the things which 
he has hitherto learned. No 
greater injury can be inflicted on 
any one than by too soon awaken- 
ing within him his own judgment. 

98 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

One should only judge when one 
has already stored up the neces- 
sary qualifications for judging 
and comparing. If, before this, 
one creates one's own independ- 
ent opinions, then these will have^ 
no sure foundations. All one- 
sidedness in life, all dreary ''con- 
fessions of faith'' which are based 
upon a few mere scraps of knowl- 
edge, and the desire to judge from 
these human conceptions that have 
been approved through long ages 
of time, rest upon just such mis- 
takes in education. Before quali- 
fied to think, one must place be- 
fore oneself, as a warning, what 
others have thought. There is no 
sound thinking which has not been 
preceded by a sound perception 
of the truth supported by obvious 
authority. If one wishes to fol- 
low out these principles of edu- 

99 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

cation, one must not allow people, 
at too early an age, to fancy them- 
selves able to judge, for in avoid- 
ing this, one will leave them the 
possibility of allowing life to work 
upon them from every side, and 
without prejudice. For by one 
such judgment, which is not 
founded on the precious basis of 
spiritual treasures, he who makes 
it will have placed a stumbling- 
block in the path of his life. For 
if one has pronounced a judgment 
on any subject, one will always 
be influenced by having done so; 
one will no longer regard an ex- 
perience as one might have re- 
garded it, if one had not erected 
an opinion which is henceforth in- 
tertwined with the subject in ques- 
tion. In young people the dis- 
position to learn first and then to 
judge, should be present. That 

100 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

One should only judge when one 
has already stored up the neces- 
sary qualifications for judging 
and comparing. If, before this, 
one creates one's own independ- 
ent opinions, then these will have 
no sure foundations. All one- 
sidedness in life, all dreary ^^con- 
fessions of faith'' which are based 
upon a few mere scraps of knowl- 
edge, and the desire to judge from 
these human conceptions that have 
been approved through long ages 
of time, rest upon just such mis- 
takes in education. Before quali- 
fied to think, one must place be- 
fore oneself, as a warning, what 
others have thought. There is no 
sound thinking which has not been 
preceded by a sound perception 
of the truth supported by obvious 
authority. If one wishes to fol- 
low out these principles of edu- 

99 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

cation, one must not allow people, 
at too early an age, to fancy them- 
selves able to judge, for in avoid- 
ing this, one will leave them the 
possibility of allowing life to work 
upon them from every side, and 
without prejudice. For by one 
such judgment, which is not 
founded on the precious basis of 
spiritual treasures, he who makes 
it will have placed a stumbling- 
block in the path of his life. For 
if one has pronounced a judgment 
on any subject, one will always 
be influenced by having done so; 
one will no longer regard an ex- 
perience as one might have re- 
garded it, if one had not erected 
an opinion which is henceforth in- 
tertwined with the subject in ques- 
tion. In young people the dis- 
position to learn first and then to 
judge, should be present. That 



100 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

which the intellect has to say of 
a certain subject ought only to be 
said when all the other powers of 
soul have spoken; before that the 
intellect ought only to play the 
part of mediator. It should only ^ 
serve to lay hold of what is seen 
and felt, to apprehend it as it 
there exists, without allowing the 
unripe judgment to take posses- 
sion of the matter. Therefore 
the youth ought to be shielded 
from all the theories concerning 
a thing, before the above-men- 
tioned age, and it should be es- 
pecially emphasized that he should 
face the experiences of life in 
order to admit them into his soul. 
A growing individual can certainly 
be made acquainted with what 
people have thought concerning 
this or that, but one should avoid 
letting him form opinions which 

101 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

arise from a premature judgment. 
He should receive opinions with 
the feelings, without deciding at 
once for one view or the other, 
not attaching himself to a party, 
but thinking, as he listens: ^^One 
has said this, and the other that." 
Before all things a large measure 
of tact is necessary in the culti 
vation of this sense by teachers 
and guardians, but occult knowl- 
edge is exactly calculated to sup- 
ply such tact. 

It has only been possible to de- 
velop here a few aspects of edu- 
cation in the light of Occultism, 
but it has only been intended to 
give a hint as to what problems 
of civilisation this pliilosophy will 
have to solve. Whether it can do 
so depends on whether the incli- 
nation for such a way of thinking 
henceforth broadens out in ever 



102 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

which the intellect has to say of 
a certain subject ought only to be 
said when all the other powers of 
soul have spoken; before that the 
intellect ought only to play the 
part of mediator. It should only ^ 
serve to lay hold of what is seen 
and felt, to apprehend it as it 
there exists, without allowing the 
unripe judgment to take posses- 
sion of the matter. Therefore 
the youth ought to be shielded 
from all the theories concerning 
a thing, before the above-men- 
tioned age, and it should be es- 
pecially emphasized that he should 
face the experiences of life in 
order to admit them into his soul. 
A growing individual can certainly 
be made acquainted with what 
people have thought concerning 
this or that, but one should avoid 
letting him form opinions which 

101 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

arise from a premature judgment. 
He should receive opinions with 
the feelings, without deciding at 
once for one view or the other, 
not attaching himself to a party, 
but thinking, as he listens: **One 
has said this, and the other that." 
Before all things a large measure 
of tact is necessary in the culti- 
vation of this sense by teachers 
and guardians, but occult knowl- 
edge is exactly calculated to sup- 
ply such tact. 

It has only been possible to de- 
velop here a few aspects of edu- 
cation in the light of Occultism, 
but it has onlv been intended to 
give a hint as to what problems 
of civilisation this philosophy will 
have to solve. Whether it can do 
so depends on whether the incli- 
nation for such a way of thinking 
henceforth broadens out in ever 



102 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

widening circles. In order that 
this may take place, two things 
are necessary: first, that people 
should abandon their prejudice 
against Occultism. He who will 
truly associate himself with it, 
will soon see that it is not the 
fantastical trash which so many to- 
day imagine it to be. This is not 
intended as a reproach to such 
people, for everything whicn our 
time offers as a means of educa- 
tion must, at first, engender the 
view that occultists are fantastics 
and dreamers. On the surface 
any other view is hardly possible, 
for there appears to be the most 
complete diversity between what 
is known as Occult Science or 
Theosophy, and all that the cul- 
ture of the present day suggests 
as the principles for a healthy 
view of life. Only a deeper con- 

103 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

sideration reveals to us how en- 
tirely in opposition the views of 
the present must remain without 
these principles of occult science — 
how, indeed, they themselves call 
out these very principles and in 
the long run cannot remain with- 
out them. The second thing that 
is necessary is connected with the 
sound development of Theosophy 
itself. Life will only welcome 
Theosophy, if in theosophical cir- 
cles the knowledge is made to per- 
meate everywhere that it is im- 
portant to make these teachings 
bear fruit in the widest manner 
for all conditions of life, and not 
merely to theorize about them. 
Otherwise people will continue to 
look upon Theosophy as a kind of 
religious sectarianism, only fit 
for some fanatical enthusiasts. 
But if it performs positive useful 

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EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

widening circles. In order that 
this may take place, two things 
are necessary: first, that people 
should abandon their prejudice 
against Occultism. He who will 
truly associate himself with it, 
will soon see that it is not the 
fantastical trash which so many to- 
day imagine it to be. This is not 
intended as a reproach to such 
people, for everything whicn our 
time offers as a means of educa- 
tion must, at first, engender the 
view that occultists are fantastics 
and dreamers. On the surface 
any other view is hardly possible, 
for there appears to be the most 
complete diversity between what 
is known as Occult Science or 
Theosophy, and all that the cul- 
ture of the present day suggests 
as the principles for a healthy 
view of life. Only a deeper con- 

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EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

sideration reveals to us how en- 
tirely in opposition the views of 
the present must remain without 
these principles of occult science — 
how, indeed, they themselves call 
out these very principles and in 
the long run cannot remain with- 
out them. The second thing that 
is necessary is connected with the 
sound development of Theosophy 
itself. Life will only welcome 
Theosophy, if in theosophical cir- 
cles the knowledge is made to per- 
meate everywhere that it is im- 
portant to make these teachings 
bear fruit in the widest manner 
for all conditions of life, and not 
merely to theorize about them. 
Otherwise people will continue to 
look upon Theosophy as a kind of 
religious sectarianism, only fit 
for some fanatical enthusiasts. 
But if it performs positive useful 

104 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 

spiritual work, then the theo- 
sophical movement cannot, in the 
long run, be refused an intelligent 
hearing. 



105 



